Partners

UN Women envisions a world where societies are free of gender discrimination, and women and girls are empowered to lead the change they want to see. But we can’t make it happen alone. Partnerships are essential, with governments and civil society groups, businesses and foundations, and committed individuals. When we bring our expertise and resources together, we become a powerful force for progress.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous meets Finnish Under-Secretary of State Elina Kalkku on 8 December 2021 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki as part of the annual consultations to strengthen and deepen partnership between UN Women and Finland. Photo: MFA Finland/Kimmo Räisänen.
Government partners
UN Women relies almost entirely on voluntary financial contributions to sustain its work to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Since its establishment, UN Women has mainly been funded by government partners committed to making gender equality and women’s empowerment a global priority.
Photo: UN Women/Montira Narkvichien
National mechanisms
Typically serving as central coordinating units for women’s affairs within national governments, national mechanisms promote the integration of gender equality measures across national policies and programmes.
Civil society groups that support gender equality participate in the “Vivas Nos Queremos” (“We want/love ourselves alive”) march outside of the National Assembly building during the Assembly’s enactment of the Law against the violence of women, 26 Novembe
Civil society
Civil society is one of UN Women’s most important constituencies. It is a dynamic source of ideas and policy perspectives, partnerships, and support.
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Businesses and philanthropies
UN Women is committed to working with the private sector on common agendas leveraging collective strengths. Our multi-faceted partnerships are integrated into public affairs, philanthropy, marketing and communications strategies.
Goodwill Ambassadors
Since the early 1950s, the United Nations has enlisted the volunteer services and support of prominent personalities from the worlds of art, music, film, sport and literature to highlight key issues and to draw attention to its activities.
National Committees for UN Women
National Committees for UN Women are independent non-governmental organizations that support the mission of UN Women through their public awareness initiatives about UN Women and global women’s issues, and fundraising efforts to support UN Women programmes worldwide.
Photo: UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre
Media collaboration
UN Women collaborates closely with the media as a key ally in advancing women’s rights.
UN Women celebrated International Women’s Day by co-organizing a 5K Run in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 2017. Photo: UN Women/Fikerte Abebe.
UN Women Alumni Association
The Alumni Association helps to connect UN Women alumni to the organization’s work, its current staff, and each other. It is a forum where former colleagues from UN Women and its predecessor entities can unite and collaborate globally, renew their contact with each other and with UN Women, and help promote UN Women’s mission towards the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.